ESPN Top 25 for 15'-16' Season

[Ricardo del Rio]

Shockers #9.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/13369291/maryland-terrapins-north-carolina-tar-heels-lead-no-longer-way-too-early-top-25

By the way, Maryland is #1.

Kai, if this information is elsewhere, then please delete the thread.

[Anthroshock]

I know that the Terps have signed a lot of high rated players and have the anointed one Melo Trimble back, but #1 seems a bit of a stretch to me. I will be very interested to see how they complete in the B1G this year.

[kcshocker11]

Went through all of the comments , we were only mentioned once. GWU guy said why wasnt GW listed when they beat us and Maryland. We have come a long way #9 and no one, I mean no one has a comment, question or bad thing to say about us.

[BostonWu]

I know that the Terps have signed a lot of high rated players and have the anointed one Melo Trimble back, but #1 seems a bit of a stretch to me. I will be very interested to see how they complete in the B1G this year.

On one hand I don't disagree with your take on the Terps...On the other hand who should be ranked on top???

[Aargh]

Interesting to observe the reactions of Shocker fans to being ranked #9 pre-season. There's no chest-thumping. No bragging. No boasting. That says a lot about the last 5 years or so. A top-10 pre-season ranking isn't a reason for celebration - it's seen as an accurate prediction and Shocker fans are aware of that.

Instead of commenting on the unusual aspect of the Shox being a pre-season top-10 team, the comments are questions about who should really be #1 and whether there are 3 B12 teams that should be ranked ahead of us.

How many times is the B12 going to put 5 teams into the dance and not see any of them make a run before the pundits figure out that the B12 is gaming the system?

The way the B12 (and other P5 schools) are working the system is to schedule patsies and a couple of other overrated P5 schools in the non-con. This is especially effective scheduling against OAD's. There's no penalty for losing to an overrated P5 school and the patsies are automatic W's. The OAD's are typically a lot better later in the season, so playing them early gets you the hype for playing against the over-hyped recruit who hasn't figured out D1 ball yet.

Just the fact that the B12 has 3 teams in the pre-season top 10 guarantees that the B12 will again be considered a top conference. After all, teams in that conference have to play almost half their conference games against highly ranked teams. Poll dynamics are not going to respond much to a B12 team losing to another P5 school in the non-con or losing to a ranked B12 school. The rest of their games are virtual gimme's.

[wufan]

Notable names ranked below the Shockers:

Nova
Gonzaga
Cal
Utah
Indiana
Arizona
Notre Dame
Michigan State
LSU
Butler
Wisconsin

[pie n eye]

Interesting to observe the reactions of Shocker fans to being ranked #9 pre-season. There's no chest-thumping. No bragging. No boasting. That says a lot about the last 5 years or so. A top-10 pre-season ranking isn't a reason for celebration - it's seen as an accurate prediction and Shocker fans are aware of that.

Instead of commenting on the unusual aspect of the Shox being a pre-season top-10 team, the comments are questions about who should really be #1 and whether there are 3 B12 teams that should be ranked ahead of us.

How many times is the B12 going to put 5 teams into the dance and not see any of them make a run before the pundits figure out that the B12 is gaming the system?

The way the B12 (and other P5 schools) are working the system is to schedule patsies and a couple of other overrated P5 schools in the non-con. This is especially effective scheduling against OAD's. There's no penalty for losing to an overrated P5 school and the patsies are automatic W's. The OAD's are typically a lot better later in the season, so playing them early gets you the hype for playing against the over-hyped recruit who hasn't figured out D1 ball yet.

Just the fact that the B12 has 3 teams in the pre-season top 10 guarantees that the B12 will again be considered a top conference. After all, teams in that conference have to play almost half their conference games against highly ranked teams. Poll dynamics are not going to respond much to a B12 team losing to another P5 school in the non-con or losing to a ranked B12 school. The rest of their games are virtual gimme's.

Or they schedule Kentucky and get beat by 40.

[Art Bunch]

It's possible this Kentucky team could be like the one 3 seasons ago that went to the NIT and lost in the 1st round. The Nerlens Noel team. Tons of talent but they never meshed. And they couldn't make a shot unless it was a dunk or an alley oop. I'm always wary of teams that depend almost exclusively on first year players.

[ShockdaWorld]

It's possible this Kentucky team could be like the one 3 seasons ago that went to the NIT and lost in the 1st round. The Nerlens Noel team. Tons of talent but they never meshed. And they couldn't make a shot unless it was a dunk or an alley oop. I'm always wary of teams that depend almost exclusively on first year players.

I would've worried about the same thing if I was a UK fan until I saw the Murray kid from Canada in the Pan Am games. That kid is going to be star now. They still not mesh well, but they won't rely on dunks.

[Heinro]

I really like the respect Utah and Notre Dame are getting. Hopefully they both live up to those rankings. That would be 2 high quality opponents in our non-con. Also, history shows Xavier will be up there competing for a spot in the top 25 as well.

[ShockerPhi]

With our luck, Utah and Notre Dame will probably tank after we play them. Most likely to happen if we beat them.

[HockeyShock]

For the life of me I can't figure out why they keep putting UNC in these lists considering that they'll almost certainly not be playing postseason ball and very possibly may not even have a basketball team by season's end.

[AZ Shocker]

For the life of me I can't figure out why they keep putting UNC in these lists considering that they'll almost certainly not be playing postseason ball and very possibly may not even have a basketball team by season's end.

It's purely just to keep recruits "interested". Imagine if North Carolina vanished from the polls and such for a few years. The NCAA, ESPN and CBS would barely make payroll.

[AZ Shocker]

In other words.....there's "vested" interest in the program. National "brand" and all. I know you and everybody else knows that...I just wanted to say it on the internet and stuff. :)

[Steeleshocker]

With our luck, Utah and Notre Dame will probably tank after we play them. Most likely to happen if we beat them.

In their defense, many teams go into shock (no pun intended) after experiencing defeat from a team as polished as Wichita State.